71 ARRIVAL AT THE COAST 



went on until it was all taken. I asked the guide why they did 

 that and he said: "We know that we will get no more until this 

 bundle is eaten and hence each man makes his own selection of 

 what he is going to eat." I decided I would try the dry meat in 

 preference to raw pemmican and had a piece selected for myself. 

 At this time, I always carried a little bag of salt with me and I 

 remember that this day I hung the bag around my neck, sat on 

 the boat and cut a bite off my dried meat, dipped it in the salt 

 and sat there and chewed. It kept me busy until nearly dinner 

 time to eat my breakfast. 



At nightfall we camped on the edge of the river and fastened 

 the boat to a tree on the bank although the boat was nearly one 

 hundred yards from the tree. Most of the men slept on shore. 

 The guide and myself slept on the boat, and, being tired and 

 possible sleepy, I never woke during the night. When I raised 

 my head in the morning I found the boat was close to the shore. 

 In the night the river had risen rapidly and, as the water rose, the 

 boat was hauled in and I discovered that I was the only one of 

 the party who did not realize the danger we had been in. The 

 flood came so unexpectedly that the boats that were at Dunvegan 

 were all carried away and we saw them sail past in the morning. 

 As far as we knew, they were lost. After a consultation with the 

 guide I climbed the bank and ascended to the trail and took my 

 way for Dunvegan, which I reached in the evening. The men 

 with the boat did not arrive until the next day. 



The next day after my arrival at Dunvegan a council of war 

 was held between ourselves and the Hudson's Bay people. Owing 

 to the great rise in the river and the loss of the boats it was 

 decided that, as we could not get assistance to go up the river by 

 boat, owing to the high water, and as we wished to proceed fur- 

 ther, we would have to go overland to Fort St. John. The Hud- 

 son's Bay clerks, Mr. Young and Mr. King, decided not to pro- 

 ceed any further as it was too late in the season, in their opinion, 

 to pass the mountains before winter. Mr. Horetzky wished me 

 to return also to Edmonton as he thought he might be able to get 

 through even if winter did set in. I said at once that I would 

 at least attempt to continue the journey and was prepared to 



